Monday, August 6, 2012

Olympic Round Up: Day 10

Row, Row, Row Your Boat
It was a Golden Regatta for Team GB in the Olympic Rowing events; 9 medals – 4 gold (one of those by the men’s four), 2 silver and 3 bronze. But only one athlete grabbed two medals themselves – Australian Kim Crow who bagged a silver and bronze in the women’s single and double sculls. The New Zealand men controlled the single and double sculls, along with the mens pair in an impressive performance. Germany won the men’s quadruple sculls and men’s eight, whereas Denmark and South Africa won the men’s lightweight double sculls, and lightweight four, respectively. British women ruled the waves in three of six events, with the USA and Ukraine also taking home gold – the former winning the women’s eight and the latter; quadruple sculls. And it was the Czech Republic’s Miroslava Knapkova who won the women’s single skulls. All in all, an entertaining and dramatic few days in the boats for many countries.

Run Forrest Run

The track and field kicked off this weekend, with records already broken and legends made. Usain Bolt was as fast as lightening in the 100m, breaking the Olympic record winning gold with a time of 9.63 seconds. But it is Britain who currently top the track and field medal table, with three golds and one silver – Christine Ohuruogu coming in second to Sanya Richards in the 400m, Jessica Ennis took gold in the Heptathlon with a convincing victory, Mo Farah stormed round the track to finish first in the 10,000m and Greg Rutherford jumped into gold medal position in the long jump. But, with the 200m, and the relay races still to come, nobody will write off the Jamaicans or the Americans – they are super quick, and usually pull it out of the bag. The men’s marathon is still yet to come, but the women have already trekked around 26.2 miles of London streets – with Ethopian Tiki Gelana breaking the Olympic record with a time of 2 hours 23 minutes and 7 seconds. And although technically not running – the 20km speed walk produced Guatemala’s first EVER Olympic medal, through silver for Erick Barrondo.

Too Cool for the Pool

And lastly, like many, I have been watching the swimming events at the Olympic Games on the edge of my seat. There has been great drama, great winners, and surprising results. Michael Phelps swam his last Olympic race on Saturday, and won it, obviously. Making it 22 medals, 18 of them gold - astonishing. But Phelps isn’t the only one making waves at these Games. Team USA have dominated the pool, and Ryan Lochte, Missy Franklin and Allison Schmitt have all stood on the podium five times, and Rebecca Soni could have had added to her gold medal tally as well, if it wasn’t for a certain 15 year old Lithuanian. Ruta Meilutyte was talk of the town, in not just Kaunas, but the world - an astonishing achievement for such a young age. And finally, a nod to the French, who, anchored by Yannick Agnel have been turning heads in the swimming world.